I am in a prog band that my keyboard player does most of the writing. Every once in awhile he decides to change the original key of a song after I and the rest of the band have learned it. In one instance, a song that relied on open chords was change down a full step. To keep the open chords I used the down full step preset on the tuning knob and it sounded and worked very well.

My band plays in Eb and I actually detuned my 59 down the half tone, however in my experience it does throw out the alt-tunings via the modelling as it is altering the tuning based on it expecting the guitar to be in E. So you may need to alter the tunings in the workbench.....not done it myself yet as other than dropped D (or dropped Db) I don't use any other tunings but will get round to doing it !

My band plays in Eb and I actually detuned my 59 down the half tone, however in my experience it does throw out the alt-tunings via the modelling as it is altering the tuning based on it expecting the guitar to be in E. So you may need to alter the tunings in the workbench.....not done it myself yet as other than dropped D (or dropped Db) I don't use any other tunings but will get round to doing it !

The Alt tunings are all relative to the actual tuning so if you change the actual tuning, the alt tunings will be shifted. If your actual tuning is out of tune, the alts will be out of tune.

donnachatoo, are you referring maybe to *setting up* a custom alt tuning on the instrument (as opposed to setting it in Variax Workbench) and saving it in one of the tuning slots, by holding down the knob then playing the notes relative to the 12th fret? Because that would make sense. I think that's the only time the Variax modling ever actually "listens" to the notes you're playing, so it probably assumes you're in standard tuning.

I have always tuned my Variax transplants to D standard and never had any problems. My JTV on the other hand does not like to be tuned to D standard and makes funny out of tune notes on some of the models, the 12 string acoustics and the 12 string Rickenbacker are the ones I had problems with but there might be more.

A support ticket was created by another user here with the same problem and the results were:

"they've updated their faq's webpage to include that tuning must be in E Standard to work. They told me that that is how the guitar is calibrated and it's not tested beyond that. "

My JTV works properly when tuned down to Eb, and most models are okay when tuned down to D - but when tuned to D the 12 strings are mostly unusable, unless you are playing in a Japanese noise band or something.

I tune mine down to Drop Db and adjusted the intonation for it. Then I went through all of the knob presets and adjusted them so that the selected label will be in the tuning matching the label. Works pretty well and I'm able to use the mags for most songs for my band.

I think Line 6 doesn't support tuning down because it changes the pressure on the piezo pickups a bit. That said, if you change string gauge accordingly then it might account for that and work the same.

Keep in mind that when you retune digitally it can affect sustain. Normally the sound from the amp will cause the string to resonate at the same note symapthetically. When you retune digitally, the pitch coming from the amp is different frm the pitch of the strings so you won't get the same sustain (or any feedback).

Keep in mind that when you retune digitally it can affect sustain. Normally the sound from the amp will cause the string to resonate at the same note symapthetically. When you retune digitally, the pitch coming from the amp is different frm the pitch of the strings so you won't get the same sustain (or any feedback).

You'll still get feedback from resonance sympathy. It will still vibrate your strings regardless of what pitch they are.

Feedback is GREATLY reduced during alternate tunings because as paulsteinway says the pitch from the amp does not match the pitch of the strings. Resonances are enhanced when they are excited at their resonant frequency. String's fundamental resonant frequency is not the same as what the DSP is generating during alternate tunings. This is a real disadvantage of alternate tunings done by DSP.

I don't have enough experience with variax models. I recently bought a JTV-59 but I'm still trying to discover models and tunings. Something getting me crazy is the fact that everytime I use the alternative tuning 1/2 step down (Eb), the sound of the guitar gets octaved, as it was in the 12 strings model but it's not!! Does somebody have something to share about it?

I don't have enough experience with variax models. I recently bought a JTV-59 but I'm still trying to discover models and tunings. Something getting me crazy is the fact that everytime I use the alternative tuning 1/2 step down (Eb), the sound of the guitar gets octaved, as it was in the 12 strings model but it's not!! Does somebody have something to share about it?

Thats a new one...numerous complaints about the alt tunings...'ghost notes', 'warbling', lack of sustain, etc...but never seen anyone say that an alt tuning produced octave harmonies.

I've been tuned down to Eb also since I got my JTV-69s and other than having to adjust the tremolo springs I have not had a problem. I've been so use to having my guitar a step down over the years I just had to tune this one down even though I could do it with the JTV's virtual capo. My 2 cents.

donnachatoo, are you referring maybe to *setting up* a custom alt tuning on the instrument (as opposed to setting it in Variax Workbench) and saving it in one of the tuning slots, by holding down the knob then playing the notes relative to the 12th fret? Because that would make sense. I think that's the only time the Variax modling ever actually "listens" to the notes you're playing, so it probably assumes you're in standard tuning.

Apologies for the late reply, what I meant was actually going into the Workbench and adjusting all the tunings there, but the Virtual Capo version would work I guess....not done either myself, but keep meaning to !!! I'm still happy using the mags to be honest with the occasional dropped D which seems to sound fine !

Thats a new one...numerous complaints about the alt tunings...'ghost notes', 'warbling', lack of sustain, etc...but never seen anyone say that an alt tuning produced octave harmonies.

I found what the problem was. This effect only appears when I´m using the Guitar Rig interface for recording. I've tested pluging the guitar direct to the ampli and it's Ok. I don't know why indeed but it's probably related to digital issues.